I can still remember my first telephone number--2749M. The phone sat on a desk in the corner of the dining room. A big black heavy handed animal. There was nothing small or sleek about this communication device. It was large in a child's hand and awkward. I only remember calling one person on the phone and that was Aunt Myrtle, my mother's youngest sister. It was a treat to use the phone and since kids didn't call each other like they do today the only person I had a number for was Aunt Myrtle. I didn't call to talk, but made the call for my mother.
When you picked the phone up off the cradle the operator's voice responded with, "number please, and you repeated the number of the person you wanted to speak with. She made the connection and you waited for the your party to pick up. The operator could tell if the line was already connected and would respond with, "that line is busy."
Party lines were common with two people sharing the same line, but with different numbers. You had to listen for your ring--two rings or one. If the party you shared the line with was using the phone you couldn't receive or make calls. Annoying! But you could, if you were very careful, lift the phone and listen in. Aunt Myrtle did that a lot much to my mother's horror. I tried that at home and was busted almost immediately. Maybe that could be compared today's wiring tapping.
I suppose the technology of today is superior from a convenience standpoint, but it is time consuming. Now you have to remember to charge your phone or you are dead in the water which creates a state of panic. Heaven forbid --you may be out of touch with your dozens and dozens of friends who made need to make an emergency call to you. Nor can you send little senseless notes to your family and friends about nothing. Oh wait--you can't take a picture of yourself standing in front of the library either. Oops! I forgot your don't use the library because you have a book on your phone or your nook or your kindle or your computer.
I keep my notebook plugged in at all times. Every three days I charge my nook, phone and ipod. I no longer remember phone numbers because they are in my contacts on my phone, I receive and send stupid messages and use the ipod as a camera since I don't have a conventional one. When I travel I have to reserve a special luggage pocket for adaptors and chargers so I can stay in touch with everything and everyone I am trying to leave behind.
When I concentrate very hard and remove myself from the clutter of my surroundings, I can still feel the magic of being a little girl living in a world with a big black monstrosity called a phone and a square box emitting voices and black and white figures. I liked being that little girl in that quiet, simple world.
